Inverarity is tying up loose ends left and right. I have to admit I'm curious about how this will shape book 7.

 

Inverarity has no issue killing their darlings. So many deaths recently.

 

Book 6 is now done.

I enjoyed reading it, but it did feel like a bit too wild of a ride. There was too much going on, too little downtime, so many characters…

The ending also came out of nowhere after a bit of an anticlimax.

Great series, looking forward to the final book, but it feels like this could have been executed better.

 

It's an entertaining read. Inverarity excels at creating an intricate, rich world and writes some thrilling action scenes. I found chapter 33 rather memorable.

I can't gel with the characters, though. In my eyes most adults in the Quickverse behave like idiots and Alexandra is a particularly unlikable protagonist: too much chaos and willfulness for me to build any kind of rapport with her.

Warts and all, I had a good time reading. I thank Inverarity for sharing his considerable talent and hard work and I'm here for book 7.

 

I liked Book 6 a lot. Great job with getting the core character development and moral themes right, and tying up a lot of loose plot ends. There was also a nice amount of gradual demonstration of moral grayness on both sides, and the loosening of morality during wartime. Outside of the "high magic" components, Alex's magical development is done well overall. I would've liked a little more of that and less of the Powers stuff.

Not a fan of a a few plot points that get introduced and then seem to be resolved quickly - the ghost situation which I never understood and does not seem to have had a purpose. Perhaps my fault for reading it all in one go.

I think the principal magical advantage that Alexandra has is a little too cheap and I'm glad she started to recognize some of the problems using it can bring. The transition from a more Harry Potter esque society to Powers and Land Beyond also felt a little jarring, and occurs more often in this book.

Also not a fan of the occasional muggle weapon being introduced, though its kept at a minimum and largely justified with other magical stuff going on.

The 7 leagues boots getting taken randomly was a pretty blatant plot railroading but I don't see the big necessity for it given Alex can apparate anyways now.


But overall, 5/5.

 

I have mixed feelings about book six. I think it needed to show more of Alexandra's inner world and the emotional turmoil that's driving her choices. Too much of it is implicit and barely even hinted at in the text, and I found myself asking "...why did she just do that?" "...why did that just happen?" over and over again.

One can imagine a growing sense of guilt and dread (about the war, the damage she's caused by using powers she doesn't understand, what she did to the Hill Dwarves, the Powers she's unleashed, etc) manifesting as the increasingly reckless and borderline suicidal behavior we see as the story progresses.

But since it's all written in her POV and we rarely get to see her seriously reflecting on these things, oftentimes it just comes across as her acting stupid for no reason and never learning from her mistakes. I found it to be a frustrating read as a result.